Rein-supporter.



I PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906. A. R. STOKESBURY & T. B. LAWHEAD.

REIN SUPPORTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 1a. 190%.

rrNrTnn sTa ns PATENT oTTTon; I

ALVARO R. STOKESBURY, OF WASHINGTON COURT-HOUSE, AND THOMAS B. LAWHEAD,OF GREENFIELD, OHIO.

REIN-SUPPORTIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

To all whom, it nowy concern:

Be it knownthat we, ALVARO R. STOKES- BURY, residing at WashingtonCourt-House, in the county of Fayette, and THoMAs B. LAW- HEAD, residingat Greenfield, in the county of Highland, State of Ohio, citizens of theUnited States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRein-Supporters; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention has relation to appliances for harness, and has for itsobject the provision of a supporter for the reins or lines of harnesswhile in use. It is well known that if the reins or lines .are notsupported or guided in some way on the hip-straps of the horse whiledriving they are liable to become crossed or to be knocked from thedrivers hand by the switching of the tail of the horse, and othermischief is likely to happen.

This invention is directed chiefly to a supporter for the reins forharness at the horses hips in order to remedy the troubles mentioned,and it will be described with reference to this purpose, though it is tobe kept in mind that the invention is known to be useful as line andstrap guides at other places on harness and that by slight modificationsit may be employed with advantage for other purposes than guides,strictly speakmg.

One manner of making, applying, and using the line or rein guide andsupport is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification; but in this regard also changes varying in character andextent may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

As herein represented, Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank from which thepresent device is formed. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the formeddevice. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of a harnesshaving my invention applied thereto, the position of the guides beingshown.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, and especially to .Fig. 1,it will be seen that a sheet-metal or other blank is employed in theformation of the present invention, the

reference character a designating an enlarged intermediate portionhaving the tapering oppositely-disposed fingers g and h, the lat terbeing directed in the same plane from the upper part of the enlargedintermediate por tion a. In other words, the elongated tapering finger gis directed downwardly from the upper part of the intermediate portiona, while the elongated tapering finger h is directed upwardly therefromat the upper side edge of the intermediate portion opposite the upperside edge from which the finger 9 projects. The lower part of theintermediate portion a is free of the fingers g and h with its loweredge barbed, as shown. This lower portion of the intermediate portionais adapted to be bent under the upper portion thereof and in spacedrelation thereto with the said barbs bent upon a curve into contact withthe corresponding longitudinal edge of the intermediate portion a, itbeing seen that the line of bend between the upper and lower parts ofsaid intermediate portion is also made upon a curve, the longitudinaledges of the folded intermediate portion a being curved, as stated, forornamental pur poses. It will be seen that by reason of the peculiarformation of the intermediate portion a and its form when bent, asstated, the sides thereof are substantially closed, with the endsthereof open, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The arm 9 of the blank is thenbent over in a slightly-rounding curve over the folded intermediateportion a, with the part above the latter spaced therefrom with its endbent downwardly and terminating immediately above one end oftheintermediate portion. The other arm h of the blank will also be bentover the intermediate portion a with its under face upon the upper faceof the arm 9 and its extremity bent slightly outwardly therefrom. Thereason for turning the extreme ends of the two arms, as stated, is topermit the edge of the rein being easily slipped between the two arms ordisengaged therefrom. It will now be understood that the arms 9 and hwhen bent with relation to each other over the intermediate portion aform a guide for the rein and that the folded intermediate portion a isdesigned to be clamped to a hip-strap. In other words, the foldedintermediate portiona forms an attachingclamp and the arms 9 and h theguide.

To fasten the clamp on 'a hip-strap, one efiicient and desirable way ofproceeding is to take a small piece of tin, wide enough to cover thebarbs on the lower plate of the clamp, then puttingit between the twoplates over the barbs and forcing the clamp upon the hip-strap edgewiseas far as it will go. When the clamp has been thus disposed, the pieceoftin may be Withdrawn, and by means of a pair of pincers or by flatteningdown with a hammer the barbs may be made to bite into the hip-strap andthe clamp thereby secured in place as firmly as may be desired. v I

Of course as the hip-straps do not extend at a right angle to the reinswhen in use and the clamp must extend in line to the straps it isdesirable that the eye of the supporter or holder should be in line withthe reins. Therefore the supporters are made to provide right and lefthand guides, whereby they may be disposed properly, as illustrated inFig. 3. It will be understood that in the formation of right or leftguides or supporters it is simply necessary to form a blank for aleft-hand supporter or guide from the blank reversed in formation, aswhen a right supporter or guide is desired.

It will'be seen from the fore oing that the invention is exceedinglysimp e, and therefore inexpensive of manufacture; that it can be madefrom a single blank or piece of material; that it is strong and durable;that it may be easily applied to a harness; that it will not injure thelatter in its application; that the reins may be easily inserted orremoved from the guides, and that the device may be readily removed fromthe harness, if desired.

siase What is claimed is" 1. A rein-supporter formed from a single pieceof metal having an enlarged intermediate portion and elongated taperingfingers, the intermediate portion being bent upon itself and the fingersbeing bent back upon the intermediate portion and in engagement witheach other.

2. A rein-supporter formed from a single piece of metal and comprisingan enlarged intermediate portion and elongated tapering 5o fingerssecured to opposite edges of the intermediate portion, the saidintermediate por tion having one edge provided with barbs, the barbededge of the intermediate portion being bent at an angle to the latterand in engagement with the opposite edge of the in termediate portion,the bent portions of the intermediate portion being spaced apart,whereby it may be secured to harness, the saidfingers being bent backinto engagement with each other above the bent intermediate'portion forthe support of a rein.

3. A rein-supporter comprising an intermediate portion, andoppositely-disposed fingers, the intermediate portion being bent backupon itself and provided with barbs whereby it may be secured toharness, the said fingers being bent into engagement with each otherabove the bent intermediate portion to form a guide.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ALVARO R. STOKESBURY. THOMAS B. LAWHEAD.

Witnesses:

W. A. SANDERS, POPE GREGG.

